Save Atticus: A Kitten's Battle for Life

Hi everyone, this GoFundMe is for my 14-16 week old kitten, Atticus. Atticus showed up on my porch as a feral, skinny little stray full of worms in August. I have had my other two cats for 11 and 7 years, and did not have plans to add another one anytime soon. But Atticus is such a special little kitty who quickly made himself at home here, and I have fallen completely in love with him. I gentled him down from being feral, took him to the vet for an exam and deworming, and he has been perfectly healthy and happy since.

Until this past Monday (11/11) when he began to show very mild signs of GI upset. He had some loose poop and didn’t finish all his food, but he was still very playful, cuddly and alert. I thought he just had a tummy ache as kittens do sometimes and to see if he felt better the next day. This went on into Tuesday, so I tried to get him into a veterinarian. The soonest appointment I could find was Wednesday morning. When he was admitted, they did X-rays for an impaction in his intestines and ran a full panel of bloodwork. His bloodwork came back and showed severe kidney failure. 40 minutes into what was supposed to be a regular appointment, I was being told that my kitten most likely would not survive this and that I needed to consider euthanasia. The shock and heart break I felt in that moment was indescribable, holding a little kitten who was uncomfortable, but by no means showing clinical signs of suffering. He was eating, drinking, cuddly, curious and looking up at me for help. I hospitalized him at the clinic overnight and he received fluids and anti-nausea medicine until Thursday morning when I planned to let him go if his numbers were not improving. In the morning, his numbers had improved slightly, although not by much and his vet said it would take at least a few days to see any difference. What he really needed was a kidney ultrasound, which they could not provide.

I paid $1,243 for the diagnostics and overnight care at that clinic, then transferred him to a teaching hospital nearby with a round-the-clock care internal medicine department where he could get an ultrasound and be examined by specialists. They advised me yesterday that my financial limit would provide Atticus with 3 days of care there, but that he will more than likely need up to 10 days of hospitalization to recover. Atticus received an ultrasound Thursday afternoon showing his kidneys are a normal size, and the vet told me the reason for his kidneys failing does not appear to be cancerous or congenital in origin. They believe he ingested a toxin and may be able to recover, but he will need up to 10 days of aggressive fluids and monitoring.

Of course I would not do any of this if Atticus were suffering and in pain - all of his clinical signs say otherwise. He is not an older cat at the end of his life who I’ve had for many years, he is just a kitten who might have many good years left ahead of him. He is being so brave and affectionate through all of this. He has an excellent appetite, and his drinking and peeing often as he should to move those toxins out of his little body. I have never made a GoFundMe, and have always been the type to refuse to even ask my own family for help. But I have never been this desperate and Atticus is trying so hard, so I need to try too.

If you can help me save my kitty with any size of donation, I will be endlessly grateful and certainly pay it forward in the future when I can. No matter the outcome. Thank you.